


The Assistant

by OptimisticBeth



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Office, F/M, Lawyer Ben Solo, Romance, assistant Rey
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-25
Updated: 2020-10-25
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:16:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,044
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27195674
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OptimisticBeth/pseuds/OptimisticBeth
Summary: Rey is Poe's assistant and specifically tasked with keeping Ben out of Poe's office.
Relationships: Kylo Ren/Rey, Rey/Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 41
Kudos: 505
Collections: Ijustfellintothissendhelp





	The Assistant

The slam of the door to the stairs followed by heavy footsteps alerted Rey to impending trouble. Even if the stomping hadn’t been distinctive, there was only one person in the building who couldn’t be bothered to wait on the elevator when he was in a Mood.

Rey rose and smoothly went to Poe’s office door. She winked as her boss raised his head from his work, then engaged the lock on his door and closed it so she could stand just outside with her hands clasped in front of her.

Ben Solo rounded the corner like a stormcloud but stopped warily in the middle of the floor when he saw Rey’s welcoming smile.

“Good afternoon, Mr. Solo,” she said in her best customer service voice. “Is there something I can help you with?”

His jaw worked as he assessed the situation. Rey almost laughed as she watched his eyes dart from her to the door and back. He pressed his lips together, and she held his eye until he squirmed. He was the first to look away. “No.”

“Would you like to leave a message for Mr. Dameron?”

A muscle in his jaw twitched. “Just tell him I need to talk to him about the Kanjiklub account.”

Rey turned her smile up. “I will _absolutely_ do that.”

He didn’t leave right away, just shifted his weight and stared at her.

“Is there something else you need?”

He opened his mouth, closed it, and looked away with a scowl. “Just tell Poe to call me before the end of the day.”

“Of course.” Another bright smile, and she watched as he turned and left.

Rey waited a minute before she heard the ding of the elevator, then rapped on Poe’s door. He poked his head out a moment later.

“He gone?”

Rey nodded and sat back at her desk.

“You’re a lifesaver. I hate dealing with him face-to-face.”

“Call him in a few hours when he’s calmed down, but _do_ call him or he’ll be even worse tomorrow.”

“Ah,” Poe said, leaning against his door frame, “but you’ll be here to protect me from the big bad lawyer again. He’s terrified of you.”

Rey couldn’t stop her smile. “I _am_ terrifying.” The first time she’d encountered Solo, she’d had to stomp on his foot to stop him from barging past her into Poe’s office while Poe was busy with an important call. The look Solo had given her as he’d hopped back had been startled and a little horrified. He’d stared at her for several long seconds, then turned on his heel without a word and left. She wasn’t even sure what he’d been meaning to talk to Poe about that day.

“It’s because he has the hots for you,” Poe said easily.

Rey’s head whipped around so fast, her neck cramped. “What?” she asked as she rubbed the sore muscle.

Poe nodded casually as if the world weren’t turning upside down. “Oh, yeah. He never used to bother with hand-delivering paperwork, and he could just as easily leave me voice messages or send an email if something’s urgent. He comes over here to see _you_.”

“That’s…”

“Incredibly plausible?”

“Insane.”

Poe shook his head, still infuriatingly complacent. “He’s always staring at you, he has trouble talking to you, and when you’re around he’ll kind of hover.”

Rey felt her cheeks warm up. “He does _not_ hover.”

“It’s more of a Rey- _adjacent_ hovering. Not right up in your mix, just… _around_.”

Rey opened her mouth, then shut it, not sure what to say.

“Here,” Poe said, walking over and pulling a pen and post-it pad toward himself. “We’re going out for drinks Friday night. Show up and watch him glare into his drink because he’s pissed that he doesn’t know how to talk to you.”

Rey stared down at the information as Poe retreated toward his office.

“Oh,” he added, poking his head back out, “and wear a cocktail dress or something if you want to see him flustered. That would be hilarious.”

“You’re a menace, Poe.”

“Or am I a fantastic boss?” he countered.

* * *

No.

_No no no no no…_

Ben tried not to hyperventilate as Poe invited Rey to slide into the booth _right beside Ben_.

He should have known something was up when Poe brought his boyfriend along.

Shit. Shit shit shit. She smelled good.

He could _smell_ her.

Her perfume or shampoo or soap… something light and floral that he usually only got the smallest taste of at work, but now it was so close, _she_ was so close, he didn’t know what to do. He clutched his hands together in his lap and stared at his drink, his brain swirling in that awkward, heady, addictive way it always did around her.

He was going to kill Poe.

“Ben, right?”

He turned his head against his will and looked down at her — too close, tooclosetooclosetooclose, she smelled _so_ good and she was _too fucking close_ — and it took him a dumb moment to register her words. When he did, he nodded, then turned his eyes away, his vocal chords tangled and brain short-circuited from her presence.

Then she held out a hand, as if for a handshake. “I’m Rey.”

“I know,” he said with his dumb mouth before he could think better of it.

She laughed. “Well, yeah. But I don’t think we’ve ever introduced ourselves.”

She was still holding out her hand, so he gingerly pressed his fingers to hers, did a weird motion that was supposed to be a handshake but wasn’t, and yanked his hand back as soon as he could.

His fingers tingled where they’d touched, and his face flooded with embarrassment. He wanted to bang his head against the table, but that would probably be even more embarrassing, so he settled on glaring at it instead.

Why couldn’t he ever act like a human being around her?

* * *

Rey was in the ladies’ room when she noticed the Snapchat notifications.

The first was a video of Ben before she arrived, arguing energetically about something with Poe. She couldn’t tell what because the sound had been turned off.

The second was a photo, this one of her arrival, again focused on Ben, and the alarm on his face as she slid in beside him.

The third had sound.

“What the fuck, Poe?” Ben snapped, glaring daggers at Poe’s position off-camera.

“I thought it would be fun,” Poe replied.

“Torturing me?”

“Getting the two of you together. I know you like her.”

Ben shook his head and started to get up. “I’m leaving.”

Poe’s hand appeared, landing on Ben’s arm to stop him. “Come on, man. I’m not asking you to propose. Just talk to her.”

Ben’s fury reverberated through the speakers on her phone. “I don’t know how! And you knew that!” Another emotion crossed his face, then, a blend of hurt and fear that made her heart ache for him. He yanked his arm away from Poe and left.

The video cut out.

* * *

Rey had never been on this floor before, never having needed to visit the company’s lawyers. She’d taken extra time with her appearance that morning, taming her hair, using a darker lip color than usual, and wiggling into her favorite pencil skirt and white wrap blouse, the ones that made her feel invincible.

The effect would be more impressive if she’d had any curves to speak of, but she thought it flattered what little she had to work with.

When she knocked on Solo’s door, he didn’t look up from his work, just grumbled a terse, “What?”

Rey shifted her weight and leaned against the doorjamb. “Can I come in?”

His head snapped up, and he stared. For a moment, she thought maybe he was angry at her, with the way he was frowning, but then he nodded and looked away, his mouth shifting as he straightened and took a breath before looking at her again.

Rey walked toward his desk, post-it clutched in a hand that was starting to feel a little clammy. Nerves. She wasn’t used to nerves.

“Is there something you need?” he asked, staring at her face almost as if he was forcing himself to, his jaw tight with effort.

“I wanted to invite you to dinner,” she said, holding out the post-it. It had the restaurant and the reservation she'd made.

Solo took it, blinking at her before looking down at the scrap of paper. He was silent long enough that Rey shifted her weight again, and then he swallowed and asked in a voice that was _almost_ unaffected, “Who all is going?”

It surprised her enough that he glanced up at her, all big, sensitive brown eyes, before she got her voice back. “It would be a date.”

His eyes widened. He looked back at the post-it, and his grip on it tightened. His Adam's apple bobbed, and his voice shook. “Did Poe put you up to this?”

She shifted closer to his desk, to him. “Poe doesn’t know anything about this.”

He managed to get out one word. “Why?”

Rey found her voice lowering to a whisper to match his. “I want to get to know you.”

“I’m not good at—” He cut himself off and shook his head as if he didn’t know how to explain what he meant.

“Is that a no?”

“No!” He jerked his head up to stare at her, lips parting. “No. I’ll be there.”

Rey flushed with pleasure and clasped her hands together, suddenly shy. “Oh. Good. I’ll see you tonight, then.”

“Yeah,” he breathed. Then, more certain, he added, “Definitely.”

* * *

Ben checked his phone, leg bouncing as the time ticked over to five-o-clock. Abruptly, he pushed his chair back and stood. “I have to go.”

Four sets of eyes turned to him, startled.

“What?” said Hux. His office was right next to Ben’s, and he’d never met a rule he didn’t like.

Ben didn’t bother to repeat himself until Ackbar, their _boss_ , said, “Sit back down, Solo. We can knock this out in half an hour.” He did _not_ look amused.

“Sorry, sir,” Ben replied, packing away his papers. “Hux can update me tomorrow, and I’ll get you whatever you need then. Right now, I have to go.”

Ackbar stood, planting his hands on the table. “I said sit down. Just because you’re the CEO’s son doesn’t mean you can do whatever you want.”

Ben ignored him and slung his bag over his shoulder.

“I’ll write you up,” Ackbar warned as he touched the conference room doorknob.

Ben tossed Ackbar a rare smile and shrugged. “Okay.”

He had the door open when Hux demanded to know what exactly was so important that Ben couldn’t wait ten minutes.

Ben indulged him. “The girl I’m gonna marry.”

The sound of a door shutting behind him had never been so satisfying.

* * *

“I may have gotten myself fired today,” Ben admitted when they were walking through the park after dinner. He’d been a mess of nerves, of course, but for some reason Rey hadn’t ditched him. And it was easier to talk to her now, when he could look at the path ahead instead of at _her_. She was still in her work clothes, they both were, and her heels made pretty little clicks on the stone paving.

“How’d you do that?”

“Left in the middle of a meeting.” He threw a glance at her, and she raised a curious brow, so he added, “It was five. I didn’t want to keep you waiting.”

“You could have texted me,” she said. “I would have understood.”

Ben shook his head, sure of his decision. “No. You’re more important.”

“Than your job?” she asked incredulously.

“Yes.”

He turned back when he realized she’d stopped walking and found her staring at him. Worry spiked inside him. Maybe a man losing his job _was_ a pretty big turnoff. He shouldn’t have said anything, should have kept it to himself, should have lied. Should have been a little more apologetic to Ackbar.

But then she bent and took her heels off, letting them dangle from two of her fingers, and sauntered past him. “Want to come back to my place?”

* * *

They both called in sick the next day.


End file.
